04-15-2008, 12:07 AM
By Denis Cuff
A hound dog named Cooper swiveled his head and furiously sniffed a boat in search of a new California public enemy: the quagga mussel.
"Come on, boy," called out his handler, Roxanne Bowers, a state fish and game warden.
The 62-pound, 2-year-old German shorthair suddenly stopped, sat and froze. He stared hard to point out a boat part with a sample of the nonnative shellfish that California wants to keep out of its rivers and lakes.
Cooper had passed a test on the final day of police academy last month near Willitts for the California Department of Fish and Game's new canine unit.
The first seven dogs began patrols last week, giving California a new line of defense to protect fish, wildlife and the environment.
These natural resources face threats from poachers, sturgeon black marketers, illegal hunters and fishermen, and nonnative fish and shellfish that can disrupt the ecosystem.
"The dogs can greatly increase the efficiency of our wardens," said Nancy Foley, the
Fish and Game department's chief of enforcement, "whether they're trying to find quagga, abalone, bear parts, gun casings, criminal suspects, or missing persons."
With fewer than 200 wardens statewide, the same number as in the 1960s, the department needs the help, Foley said. It can cost between $6,500 and $12,000 to acquire and train one dog, plus extra for required refresher training, amounting to several hours a month.
Fine noses make the dogs top detectives.
The dogs can detect abalone, bear gall bladders, fish and weapons -- restricted items that lawbreakers have been known to stash in hidden car compartments, trunks, spare tires, clothes, sports bags, lunch chests and other places.
The dogs also will be called on this year to sniff out tiny quagga mussels that might be clinging to boats before they are allowed to enter lakes or rivers.
The nonnative mussels -- which spread by hitching rides on boats - - threaten to harm California lake and river environments, and clog water pipes and pumps.
One dog can check a boat in one to three minutes, while an expert human would take 15 minutes or more, and not do as well.
"That's a huge time difference that ought to save a lot of time and frustration by the public ... especially if there is a line of boating waiting up to get into a reservoir," said Lynette Shimek, coordinator of the department's new K-9 unit and owner of a German Shepherd on the team.
The dogs also may be used to walk lake shorelines to detect quagga in waters suspected of infestations.
Inspections will step up when the boat season arrives this spring.
In their other duties, the dogs sometimes can make fish and game violators give up hidden items before they are searched.
"I've had cases where someone had hidden illegally taken fish or animals," Shimek said. "Once he saw my dog, he pulled out the items, and said, 'Here it is. I confess.'"
Sixteen other states have some form of canine unit in their fish and game departments, Shimek said.
California Fish and Game proposes to expand the canine unit to 24 dogs if enough wardens volunteer to live and work with a dog. Bowers, who patrols parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, rescued her dog, Cooper, as a puppy from an Oakland animal shelter.
She sought out a dog that was active, sociable and excited about finding things -- qualities suited for working long hours in rough terrain and sometimes in close contact with people.
Most of the dogs are black Labradors, also a hunting dog.
During a patrol in West Contra Costa County on Wednesday, Bowers walked Cooper on a leash as she checked fishing licenses on a pier in Carquinez Regional Shoreline near Crockett.
She wore a revolver on her hip, and carried in her pocket a plastic bag for dog poop.
Bowers let some children on the pier pet Cooper as she talked about fishing limit sizes and best angling locations.
"I'd say 90 percent of the time, the dog puts people at ease," she said.
One pier fishermen, Pedro Goncalves of San Francisco, said he likes the idea of dogs helping wardens.
"The wardens need all the help they can get," he said. "I see people keeping undersized fish and taking fish they shouldn't. It bothers me."
Later that afternoon, in Rodeo, Bowers found two men fishing off the shoreline without a fishing license, as required.
"Did you catch any fish?" she asked.
"No, ma'am," one angler replied.
Bowers spotted a striped bass in the water hooked to a line nearby.
"Is this yours?"
"Yes ma'am," he replied.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" she asked.
"I didn't want to get in trouble," the man said.
As Cooper watched, Bowers ticketed the two men, who said they didn't know a license was required to fish there.
The men accepted the tickets and drove off.
Later, Bowers said having a dog makes her feel safer in a job that often calls for patrolling isolated areas at odd hours, and confronting hunters or other people with weapons.
"Having Cooper there affords me greater security," Bowers said. "The other thing is companionship. It's nice having a warm beating heart next to you at 3 in the morning when it's cold in the truck, and you're tired, hungry and thirsty. It's nice knowing something is there."
A hound dog named Cooper swiveled his head and furiously sniffed a boat in search of a new California public enemy: the quagga mussel.
"Come on, boy," called out his handler, Roxanne Bowers, a state fish and game warden.
The 62-pound, 2-year-old German shorthair suddenly stopped, sat and froze. He stared hard to point out a boat part with a sample of the nonnative shellfish that California wants to keep out of its rivers and lakes.
Cooper had passed a test on the final day of police academy last month near Willitts for the California Department of Fish and Game's new canine unit.
The first seven dogs began patrols last week, giving California a new line of defense to protect fish, wildlife and the environment.
These natural resources face threats from poachers, sturgeon black marketers, illegal hunters and fishermen, and nonnative fish and shellfish that can disrupt the ecosystem.
"The dogs can greatly increase the efficiency of our wardens," said Nancy Foley, the
Fish and Game department's chief of enforcement, "whether they're trying to find quagga, abalone, bear parts, gun casings, criminal suspects, or missing persons."
With fewer than 200 wardens statewide, the same number as in the 1960s, the department needs the help, Foley said. It can cost between $6,500 and $12,000 to acquire and train one dog, plus extra for required refresher training, amounting to several hours a month.
Fine noses make the dogs top detectives.
The dogs can detect abalone, bear gall bladders, fish and weapons -- restricted items that lawbreakers have been known to stash in hidden car compartments, trunks, spare tires, clothes, sports bags, lunch chests and other places.
The dogs also will be called on this year to sniff out tiny quagga mussels that might be clinging to boats before they are allowed to enter lakes or rivers.
The nonnative mussels -- which spread by hitching rides on boats - - threaten to harm California lake and river environments, and clog water pipes and pumps.
One dog can check a boat in one to three minutes, while an expert human would take 15 minutes or more, and not do as well.
"That's a huge time difference that ought to save a lot of time and frustration by the public ... especially if there is a line of boating waiting up to get into a reservoir," said Lynette Shimek, coordinator of the department's new K-9 unit and owner of a German Shepherd on the team.
The dogs also may be used to walk lake shorelines to detect quagga in waters suspected of infestations.
Inspections will step up when the boat season arrives this spring.
In their other duties, the dogs sometimes can make fish and game violators give up hidden items before they are searched.
"I've had cases where someone had hidden illegally taken fish or animals," Shimek said. "Once he saw my dog, he pulled out the items, and said, 'Here it is. I confess.'"
Sixteen other states have some form of canine unit in their fish and game departments, Shimek said.
California Fish and Game proposes to expand the canine unit to 24 dogs if enough wardens volunteer to live and work with a dog. Bowers, who patrols parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, rescued her dog, Cooper, as a puppy from an Oakland animal shelter.
She sought out a dog that was active, sociable and excited about finding things -- qualities suited for working long hours in rough terrain and sometimes in close contact with people.
Most of the dogs are black Labradors, also a hunting dog.
During a patrol in West Contra Costa County on Wednesday, Bowers walked Cooper on a leash as she checked fishing licenses on a pier in Carquinez Regional Shoreline near Crockett.
She wore a revolver on her hip, and carried in her pocket a plastic bag for dog poop.
Bowers let some children on the pier pet Cooper as she talked about fishing limit sizes and best angling locations.
"I'd say 90 percent of the time, the dog puts people at ease," she said.
One pier fishermen, Pedro Goncalves of San Francisco, said he likes the idea of dogs helping wardens.
"The wardens need all the help they can get," he said. "I see people keeping undersized fish and taking fish they shouldn't. It bothers me."
Later that afternoon, in Rodeo, Bowers found two men fishing off the shoreline without a fishing license, as required.
"Did you catch any fish?" she asked.
"No, ma'am," one angler replied.
Bowers spotted a striped bass in the water hooked to a line nearby.
"Is this yours?"
"Yes ma'am," he replied.
"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" she asked.
"I didn't want to get in trouble," the man said.
As Cooper watched, Bowers ticketed the two men, who said they didn't know a license was required to fish there.
The men accepted the tickets and drove off.
Later, Bowers said having a dog makes her feel safer in a job that often calls for patrolling isolated areas at odd hours, and confronting hunters or other people with weapons.
"Having Cooper there affords me greater security," Bowers said. "The other thing is companionship. It's nice having a warm beating heart next to you at 3 in the morning when it's cold in the truck, and you're tired, hungry and thirsty. It's nice knowing something is there."